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R1150RT Clock changes time spontaneously

Hello all,
My first post: I have a 2002 R1150 Rt. I love it. It is my second BMW and even though I have been riding them for 3 years now I still feel like I am learning them.
The latest trick my bike has been doing has been spontaneously changing the time on the clock. Why is this happening
Could this be caused by and electrical problem?

The other thing my bike does is eat oil. It does not smoke and the spark plugs come out clean. It does not leak. Is it hiding in the tires or what???

I think the two events, lost time and lost oil, may be related. I suspect that someplace on your bike is a hidden trans dimensional trapdoor where both your oil, and the lost time on your clock, are escaping into another dimension.

Paul Mulhern
MOA# 56330
The biggest mistake people make... is thinking they have time.

I think the two events, lost time and lost oil, may be related. I suspect that someplace on your bike is a hidden trans dimensional trapdoor where both your oil, and the lost time on your clock, are escaping into another dimension.

Plausible, but it's more likely that the oil is being dumped into the clock.

Sorry, OP, couldn't resist. Could you please describe the clock changes more clearly? Reset to 0:00 or to random time? Changes while riding, or only when starting? Any chance someone has modified it to show AM/PM?

My clock drove me crazy, resetting during starts especially in cold weather, but under my 4th battery I do not see this problem. I never saw changes to a random time.

Later edit: Oh, I see the clock changes 'spontaneously', I guess that means as you are riding along. I'd be interested in any more detail...
Theory: though it sounds like an obvious bad connector or wire insulation problem, these would more likely reset the clock to 0:00. Changing to a random time would be a defect within the RID.

Another thought:
Digital real-time-clock chips usually have a PRESET input pin. When going LOW it sets the time to whatever it sees on certain pins. Is something grounding PRESET? Disclaimer: I don't know if the RID module can be opened for investigation. I do know that the RID connector only gives power and ground to the clock. Somewhere I saw a modification to get AM/PM time, so there must be more pins accessible.

Last edited by DougRaymond; 09-12-2013 at 12:40 AM.
Reason: and more thoughts

Hello all,
My first post: I have a 2002 R1150 Rt. I love it. It is my second BMW and even though I have been riding them for 3 years now I still feel like I am learning them.
The latest trick my bike has been doing has been spontaneously changing the time on the clock. Why is this happening
Could this be caused by and electrical problem?

The other thing my bike does is eat oil. It does not smoke and the spark plugs come out clean. It does not leak. Is it hiding in the tires or what???

I can relate to the oil consumption, (clock works fine) I purchased a R1150R new in 2002 & it has consumed 1qt per 1000 miles since new, (maybe a little more) I do not consider myself an aggressive rider, although I do like to, as they say "get it on" every now & then. it currently has 50k & runs fine, Although it has taken awhile, Ihave gotten use to the oil thing, it has been my only complaint, it is just a great motorcycle! I have other Motorcycles (Goldwing/KLR) but "R" is the one I look forward to riding the most. Like yours mine does not smoke, leak, no oil in the air box, plugs always look fine, which surprises me as I would think that any motorcycle using that much oil would leave a pretty good smoke trail, but the clock is good! good luck msn

"I'd rather wake up in the middle of nowhere than in any city on Earth."

I've got an 02 R1150RT and the only time I had a clock issue was went I bought the bike with a dead battery. Put in a PC Oddessy 680 (my current meds make some spelling and model #'s a bit questionable :-) and had no problems since. The oil thing is a mystery to me too. That other dimension mentioned in an early post must be oil rich at this point in time. I do note that I always seem to have a little bit of oil on the cylinder by the fill cap. I clean that up with simple green from time to time and just keep an eye on the oil level.

I do note that I always seem to have a little bit of oil on the cylinder by the fill cap. I clean that up with simple green from time to time and just keep an eye on the oil level.

You could eliminate the need to do that for a year or two by replacing both of the O rings that seal the filler cap. The one on the cap itself is obvious. The other one is between the plastic insert and the recess/hole in the metal valve cover.

Paul Glaves - "Big Bend", Texas U.S.A
"The greatest challenge to any thinker is stating the problem in a way that will allow a solution." - Bertrand Russellhttp://web.bigbend.net/~glaves/

You could eliminate the need to do that for a year or two by replacing both of the O rings that seal the filler cap. The one on the cap itself is obvious. The other one is between the plastic insert and the recess/hole in the metal valve cover.

I replaced the O ring on the plug and put a new plastic insert in but I don't recall there being a 2nd O ring in the kit I got from the dealer. Just I'll try it again this winter and check to make sure there are plenty of O rings to go around.

You could eliminate the need to do that for a year or two by replacing both of the O rings that seal the filler cap. The one on the cap itself is obvious. The other one is between the plastic insert and the recess/hole in the metal valve cover.

On an 1100 (and I think on the 1150) there is an oil drain plug at the bottom left rear of your air box. It looks the same as the filler plug on your left cylinder cover only upside down. Open it and see if any oil comes out. If it does it is possible you are over filling the oil and it is being blown out which over filled oilheads are prone to do.

Another possibility is that the bike was never broken in properly; another common problem on oilheads. Nikasil cylinders do not break in; the rings do. Babying new bikes with nikasil cylinders curses them to forever use oil. When new or rebuilt, they need to be ridden as if they were on fire and the only way to put it out is to ride em like you stole em for at least 600 miles.